


House Odds

by 1001cranes



Category: Black Donnellys
Genre: Ficlet, Incest, M/M, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-05
Updated: 2011-08-05
Packaged: 2017-10-22 05:51:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/234568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1001cranes/pseuds/1001cranes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kevin's not a bad gambler. He's just waiting for the right hand.</p>
            </blockquote>





	House Odds

Tommy’s sitting next to Kevin at the bar, looking like he’s thinking hard about something, like how to actually get Jimmy into rehab, or maybe how they’re going to get the money for the Italian mob each week. Or maybe he’s thinking about smashing Samson’s face in.

Kevin would help with that.

“Hey,” he says, sliding his beer glass over to clink against Tommy’s. “Stop worryin’ so much. It’ll work out.”

Tommy just gives him his most frustrated look, his best “don’t-be-such-a-fucking-idiot” glare. Kevin can’t blame him too much either, because Tommy doesn’t have a brother who takes care of him. Not they way they should.

He’s gonna change that too.

“It will,” he insists, nudging his shoulder up against Tommy’s, letting it rest for a brief moment before pulling away. “Promise.”

Tommy’s spent his entire life straddling the line between Real-World Respectable and Irish-Neighborhood Respectable. People think its ‘cause of art school, but you don’t have to have a college education to be an artist. Kevin knows its ‘cause of Jenny, that Tommy’s spent his life with some weird little picture of him and Jenny buzzing around in the back of his head. Like it would ever happen – because he’s a Donnelly and she’s a Riley – because there’s Irish and there’s _Irish_ , and Old Riley would never have let that stand.

‘Sides. Jenny’s just turned Tommy down. He’d say _again_ , because Jenny’s been turning Tommy down ever since puberty, but they all know this is different. He knows where Tommy was that night. He knows who Tommy went to see, and he can guess what happened, because Jenny’s been stomping all over Tommy’s heart for years and she’d never got past the thick outer shell before. Never made Tommy look the way he did. The same look on his face before they found out Jimmy was going to walk again, or when they found out their dad died.

Kevin really hates her for that. Hates her, but he’s laughing at her too, because she’s done, now. She lost. She finally fucking lost.

Kevin’s the gambler of the family, and he knows – he _knows_ the fucking odds. He knows that the house wins every time. He knows that between him and Jenny Riley, he’s always gonna lose. The odds aren’t just tipped in her favor, they’ve been hers for the taking. Kevin’s been trying to stare her down for years, but he could never get ahead because Jenny Fucking Riley had the best poker face he’d ever seen. Kevin couldn’t tell with her – couldn’t tell if she loved Tommy, or if she just loved jerking him around. Couldn’t tell if she was playing ‘cause she liked the competition, or if she’d ever had a damn idea they were playing at all. But all she had to do was say “yes,” just give Tommy one fucking word and she could have it all. She was too damned stubborn to do it, for whatever the reason, and now Kevin’s going to take her for all she’s worth.

He’s going to take Tommy.


End file.
